Recent, underrated gems.

[Doclector]

So, what recent games/content do you feel were underapreciatted?

Saints row the third: trouble with clones

It may have shared the big problem of the other dlcs of not allowing you to use most of the content you used in the missions in free roam, but it was enjoyable and funny from start to finish.

Lord of the rings: war in the north

Doomed from the start, huh? An action fantasy RPG, set in a snowy, mountainous region, released not far from skyrim's launch. Still, this is pretty awesome for fans of lord of the rings, as it nails the settings and characters pretty well, whilst telling it's own story. The action is a little repetative, but solid, and above all for me, it let me play as a dwarf. Seriously, what is it that modern fantasy games have against the short, angry folk? Though, I must say, I've never had an opportunity to do co-op on it, and it feels like it was really meant for that, but the AI isn't too bad, for a change.

EDIT: Recent as in...let's say the last five years.

 

[Sp3ratus]

Well, since there's no set definition of what recent is, I'll mention one of my favourite recent games, called Eufloria. I've mentioned it a couple of times on these forums before, but I really, really like the game and think it deserves more recognition than it gets.

It's an RTS-lite, where there are two types of "buildings"(trees, in reality) one for offense, one for defense and two types of units(with variations, though). This is true for the current PC version, but there's an update coming at an unspecified time, already live on the PSN and iPad version. Asteroids, where trees are built have a set number of trees that can be grown there and the primary way of expanding your empire is by capturing either unclaimed or enemy asteroids and built your own trees there. It's quite relaxing, with very soothing music. The gameplay might not be that deep or difficult, but I've enjoyed it a great deal. There's a demo on Steam, for anyone who's interested.

Other than that, I'll say Edge, another "casual" game. It's a puzzle game, where you play as a block, trying to navigate through a level, gathering color cubes and trying not to fall of the edges. There's a timer and times to beat, creating an extra challenge, which is not a breezethrough at all, which is quite nice, for something a bit harder than the core game itself.

Oh and I'd also like to mention Fate of the World which is a TBS, where your goal is basically to save the world, by navigating through global weather and temperature change, financial crises and generally lifting the standard of human living on this planet. It's a very challenging game, because a minor fuck-up can quickly lead to a snowball effect and ruining an otherwise good playthrough. It's quite fascinating though and also a delight to see when everything clicks and you beat a scenario.

EDIT: On second thought, none of the above titles are so much underrated as not really getting any spotlight.

 

[Bassik]

Rayman Origins.

I know it is rated pretty well, but it didn't sell too good.
A great game with ridiculous hard levels; you had infinity lives but the levels got so hard near the end that didn't really matter, the gameplay was tight and fun, the multiplayer was fun, it looked weird and cartoony, the music was weird and great... if you haven't played it yet, go get it.
Go get it boy.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well there was a recent top down RPG released, goes by the name of Krater

Now people say it's like Baldur's Gate but that isn't actually true, it's far more a party based dungeon crawler set in a sort of Fallout/Borderlands world.
Lot's of charm, great design, very lighthearted, however it only supports Directx10/11 so older cards and Win XP will not run it, also needs quite a bit of muscle under the hood.

And I almost forgot a very neat platformer called Tiny and Big: Grandpa's Leftovers, sounds disgusting but it brings some interesting physics elements to the table.

 

[kyogen]

Nier

Funny, clever, sad. Interesting mix of gameplay elements, great voice acting, nice art and level design, decent graphics from a small team.

 

[Pink Gregory]

God DAMN I wanted to play Tiny and Big, but I haven't got the rig to run it

 

[Doclector]

God DAMN I wanted to play Tiny and Big, but I haven't got the rig to run it

Me either, I saw it on GOG and had a sad.

 

[Eve Charm]

Awesomenauts, 2d moba that looks like a platformer is great.

Sequence is So good if your a fan of something like Guitar hero mixed with like an rpg if you can even try to put those together in your head.

Quantum conundrum just came out and it's basically a portal ripoff. but it's portal they are ripping off so good.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. So much hate for this beautiful game. I think it's splendid.

 

[Fasckira]

Blade Kitten. As platformers go, it had all the right things; a good difficulty progression, good voice acting, pretty graphics, humour, music and a certain amount of replay value. Its biggest failing perhaps was that in order to really appreciate the storyline you had to read the comic book (the first part of which was available free online and covered the bits you needed to know).

 

[lord.jeff]

Stacking and Lone Survivor, I don't hear much talk of either and both ended up being really great games.

 

[bafrali]

Rayman Origins. It is a shame it didn't get the recognition it deserved.We need more platformers

other than F'ing Mario to survive the market

 

[Raika]

Nier

Funny, clever, sad. Interesting mix of gameplay elements, great voice acting, nice art and level design, decent graphics from a small team.

I'd like to add to this if I may.

Nier is the best and most underrated game of this generation. Hell, given its quality versus its reception, it's probably the most underrated game of all time. Every single thing about it from its story to its presentation is pure spun gold. It manages to turn even the tedium of constant fetch quests into a poignant and affecting message and conveys the plight of its characters through gameplay, as all games should. That it isn't universally lauded is a shame. That its reception was worse than that of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is a travesty. Nier is better than any game Nintendo has ever made.

I'd also like to toss in my vote for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, a fantastic third-person shooter that was overshadowed by the higher-tone and ultimately inferior Gears of War 3 and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. Space Marine did very little wrong and a ton of things right, and the lack of fanfare for it was very disappointing.

Finally, let's talk about Duke Nukem Forever.

It's not that bad, come on.

 

[Rastien]

Stacking and Lone Survivor, I don't hear much talk of either and both ended up being really great games.

Lone survivor is the muts nuts.

If you like survival horror bloody go and play it and buy it now. So much love for this game, really brought me back to the silhent hill good days and clock tower 1 on the snes.

Blade Kitten. As platformers go, it had all the right things; a good difficulty progression, good voice acting, pretty graphics, humour, music and a certain amount of replay value. Its biggest failing perhaps was that in order to really appreciate the storyline you had to read the comic book (the first part of which was available free online and covered the bits you needed to know).

Fuck... there was a web comic ? that will probably fill in the gaps >:/ loved the game but felt it was disjointed this is probably why.

 

[hoboman29]

[/quote]

Finally, let's talk about Duke Nukem Forever.

It's not that bad, come on.[/quote]
I have a friend who says Duke Nukem Forever was his Game Of The Year.

As for my opinion of underrated I have to say Marvel vs Capcom 3 because way too many people are nostalgia blind of MvC 2 which wasn't that great of a game (Flameshield up)

 

[MetalDooley]

I'd also like to toss in my vote for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, a fantastic third-person shooter that was overshadowed by the higher-tone and ultimately inferior Gears of War 3 and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. Space Marine did very little wrong and a ton of things right, and the lack of fanfare for it was very disappointing.

Tbh releasing it a week before Gears 3 probably didn't do it any favours.I agree though it was a pretty good game even if the MP was a bit laggy

 

[The Wykydtron]

Hmmm maybe Magic 2012? I assume it didn't sell that much since it's quite niche. Loved that game, even if March to War was broken as shit ^^

2v2 was awesome, Archenemy needed more love though, so many people just waiting in a lobby only having one person join, notice they weren't the Archenemy and then instaleave. I suppose Ancient Depths would be so hilarious as the AE though, invincible 12/12 on turn one go!

Now to wait for my friend to get any money whatsoever so we can get the new 2013 version off Steam! I assume the controls will be less terrible for the PC anyway.

I swear to god if my laptop can't run this... You can run League of Legends perfectly well you can bloody run a childrens card game. I can't trust the damn thing that's the problem.

Also UMVC3, for being the most Hype thing on the planet and getting Phoenix Wright incredibly in-character it hurts...

You know pro guys, I think that extra bounty of something like $500 is still up for getting to the top 8 at EVO with Phoenix Wright on your team.

Just saiyan...

[sub]Literally nobody plays him. Literally nobody. Not even OMG I drop my comboz.[/sub]

 

[shrekfan246]

I'd also like to toss in my vote for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, a fantastic third-person shooter that was overshadowed by the higher-tone and ultimately inferior Gears of War 3 and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. Space Marine did very little wrong and a ton of things right, and the lack of fanfare for it was very disappointing.

Finally, let's talk about Duke Nukem Forever.

It's not that bad, come on.

As far as Space Marine is concerned, my big issue with it was how constricting the campaign was. The sections with the Jump Pack were absolutely amazing, but everything else was a tightly-wrapped linear corridor. It's one of the only games that I've ever actually flat-out noticed how much it was just ushering me to the next checkpoint. Hell, if they had made the entire game with the Jump Pack in mind, I probably would've had a lot more fun with it. As it is, it got very repetitive fairly quickly, despite how short of a game it was.

The melee combat focus was pretty awesome though.

As far as Duke Nukem goes, I agree with you, but the Internet is gonna Internet.

OT: Sonic Generations. It apparently had an issue with input lag on HD TVs which I don't know if it is resolved yet, but apart from how disconnected the levels themselves feel because it's essentially like one of those "Greatest Hits" albums bands release after twenty years of recording music, the game is excellent. "Classic" Sonic is a bit floaty when bouncing off of enemies, but otherwise he controls very smoothly and unlike the Dimps games, he isn't constantly being tossed around by speed panels and forced to avoid bottomless pits you can only see for half a second before needing to jump over them.

The fact that they've basically lifted levels from every main series Sonic game since the Genesis (or Mega Drive) means that there's a huge amount of variety in level design and aesthetics, and it contains remixes of all the original songs as well as including a ton of the original songs themselves as unlockables which can then be used during the normal levels (such as playing the original 16-bit "Green Hill Zone" song while running through "Classic" Sonic's Green Hill Zone stage).

But it's a modern Sonic game, so to the vast majority of gamers, it's automatically crap just because it has his name on it.

 

[RedLister]

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. So much hate for this beautiful game. I think it's splendid.

Loved playing Kingdom of amular too...real shame about the company going bust especially since it was there first game.

Another game i enjoyed was Divinity 2 Dragon Knight saga. But i think it came out around the time dragon age origins did and was overshadowed by it. Well the ego Draconis version of Divinity 2. Dragon Knight saga was added episode content and a reworked ego Draconis.

 

[Uriain]

Not Overly recent, and getting a sequel soon, but DarkSiders I really enjoyed, and looking forward to DarkSiders II.